 From fear to festivalSundown, February 25, 2021 is the beginning of Purim. Purim is a feast day instituted by Queen Esther of the Persian Empire, a chief imperial superpower of the ancient world. Esther’s decree appointed this Feast be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province and every city (Es 9:28). Purim was to be a perpetual festival of joy commemorating the day when fear of Haman’s decree transformed into exuberant laughter and celebration. During Esther’s reign, a high government official—second only to the King himself—smoldered with incredible hate for a certain people group. His intense hatred gave rise to a diabolical plan of annihilating the people he so greatly despised. These people were known as Jews—and he hated them all. Who was this diabolical fiend? “The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!” Haman was the notorious architect of a plan dictating total annihilation of God’s people. 
SPIRIT OF HAMAN  There are some uncanny parallels between Esther’s day and ours. Ironically, Haman is found in 45 Scripture verses and, during America’s 45th President, this same diabolical spirit manifested yet again. It’s as though we are living in a modern-day Esther story, a story of devious conspiracies to exterminate God’s people and diabolical decrees signed and sealed by Haman. This Haman was not a king, but a secondary power. Our 45th President Donald J. Trump clearly stood in support of Israel and became the first American President to officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. In fact, this recognition became the first active affirmation and signed proclamation since ancient times and the Persian Empire. While President Donald J. Trump stood with Israel and fought for the church’s freedom, this wicked spirit schemed in frenzied, hysterical ways. This spirit is a secondary governing power opposing life and freedom; a secondary government with plans and decrees to obliterate God’s people; a secondary government with the spirit of Haman.
FLAMES OF AGAG
But take heart, Church, Purim is coming! We are about to celebrate the deliverance of God’s people from Haman’s diabolical plot yet once more. Haman’s verdict will fall on his own head! Fear of his decrees will turn into laughter and celebration. Don’t forget, God isn’t ringing his hands in despair, He sits in the heavens and laughs as nations rage.
A YEAR OF FEAR Haman and his cabal arrogantly cast lots in the month of Nisan, the 1st month of the biblical Hebrew year. Little did Haman know of Nisan’s anointing to open the way for victory and bring miraculous deliverance from one’s enemies. Nisan is the month of Passover and God’s incredible deliverance of His people from Egypt.
In 2020, what began as “Two weeks to flatten the curve” turned into nearly a year (so far) of lockdowns. Fear of the virus, fear of lockdowns, fear of death, fear of fines, fear of bankruptcy… Frenzied, hysterical fear of Haman’s diabolical plans. But, Purim is coming—the joyous time when fear transforms into festivities as enemies’ plots are foiled.
2 "Adar"sThere are two Adar’s in Scripture – the month Adar and the city Adar. Ironically, the month Adar means “fire”, and it won’t be just a flickering flame. This is a raging fire burning in response to the angry, hateful Flame of Agag. It’s the Consuming Fire of Almighty God in judgment of those who dare have “plots and thoughts” against His people. Do not be deceived, God will not be mocked. …as a consuming fire he shall destroy them… (Deuteronomy 9:3) The city Adar was part of Judah’s inheritance and has a different meaning: ample. It comes from the root: to expand, be great or magnificent, to become glorious. The season that looked like it would completely wipe out the Jews became a season of their expansion. The Jews gathered themselves together--and all provincial rulers, lieutenants, deputies and king’s officers helped the Jews. Mordecai-the-despised had become Mordecai-the-great, a man held in high regard. Their narrow place became a place of enlargement. Others had come to fight with them. As Haman’s decree was put into execution on Adar 13, it was turned to the contrary! A divine reversal took place! Jews dominated those that hated them. Their enemies were destroyed.
TO THE CONTRARYThe Agag spirit that set out to eradicate God’s chosen seed was turned on itself. Haman’s verdict fell on his own head. Haman hung on gallows he built for Mordecai. His conspiracy against the Jews became his own destruction, his sons and any who collaborated with him. Haman plotted evil, but God had a different plan. Like Joseph, Esther and Mordecai could say, “…as for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good … to save much people alive.” Gen 50:20. An entire holocaust was averted that day. Though ruin had been dictated, deliverance occurred. Yet, their deliverance wasn’t automatic nor assumed. It came at great risk and great cost. Mordecai did not bow, but remained standing! Esther risked her life! They all fasted. They wept. They prayed! They all gathered together! They all fought! They all won! Adar 14 became a celebration day as Mordecai and Esther established Purim to confirm their “fastings and prayers had brought about great deliverance for themselves and their seed”. Not only did this day become a day of remembering the ruin of their enemies, but again and again on this day throughout history the enemies of God’s people have come to sudden destruction. 
MODERN PURIMSPurim should instill the awe and fear of God into each of us. Our God is still a consuming fire! He still saves and delivers! He still has a strong right hand. His enemies are still destroyed on this day! Plans against Israel are still thwarted on Purim, because Purim is perpetual. In the winter of 1953, Joseph Stalin had savage plans for the Soviet Jews. Murders, massacres, assaults, and fear were the norm. The trial against the Kremlin physicians, many of whom were Jewish, was set to begin in just a few weeks. As it reached a crisis point, they found him dead … on Purim. In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. As international pressure mounted, Iraq fired SCUD missiles into Israel hitting a large apartment complex. The injuries were all mild. Even the non-religious declared it a miracle. Another SCUD scored a direct hit on a bomb shelter turned into a temporary sanctuary filled with 200 worshippers. No one was injured—another miracle. Allies entered the war in January of 1991 and in February, the war ended … on Purim. For this is what the Lord Almighty says…whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye. Zec 2:8
Anyone with “plots and thoughts” against the Lord’s anointed ones, you are in a danger zone. Repent and receive forgiveness through Jesus Christ and His shed blood. He promises to remember our iniquities no more. By His grace, you too can be saved from the day of destruction. If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Rom 10:9 The wages of sin is death, but Jesus paid the bill. Apply His blood to the debt you owe. Trade your curse for blessing, your sin for righteousness, and your death for life.
perpetual celebration day
We may not have seen our deliverance yet, but Purim is coming. Our fastings and prayers have not gone undetected by our Mighty Deliverer. He saves every prayer and every tear. He sits in the heavens and laughs. It’s time to laugh with Him. Let your fear of Haman’s decree transform into the exuberant laughter of a redemption festival. The joy of the Lord is our strength. This Adar, the Consuming Fire will overtake the Flame of Agag. We are in the season of Purim! The season of miraculous protection is upon us. Step out of the year of fear! The season of divine reversal is here! 
I pray you will be blessed above and beyond your wildest imaginations, as you feast on His Food! ~Wendy 🌹
1 Comment
 November 13, at 4 am, I went downstairs to our music room to pray. At some point, I fell asleep while praying in tongues and went into a dream where I was laying in our downstairs music room and praying in tongues. Suddenly there was a big boom, a few flashes of red light, and everything went black. Did the power go out? Why did I see red flashes? I lay stunned and unsure of what just happened till Mike came down and bent over me. Lightly tapping my shoulder, he quietly said, “Come here, I want to show you something!” Taking me to the basement window, we turned our eyes upward. The sky was pitch black with nothing to see but scales of justice, very bright with stars just like a constellation.
 It’s also a time of protection for God’s spokesmen though they may be in the midst of scorpions. “But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them. Do not fear their words, though … you sit among scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words or be dismayed by their looks—for they are a rebellious house.” (1) Don’t be deceived! God will not be mocked. He is the God of Justice and desires that we pursue justice as He told His servant Moses so many years ago. “Justice, justice you must pursue, so that you may live and possess the land…" (2)
"HE WILL BRING JUSTICE TO THE NATIONS." (5) 1. Eze 2:6 2. Deut 16:20 3. Jer 50:7 4. Is 42:4 5. Is 42:1 (all verses from TLV)
I pray you will be blessed above and beyond your wildest imaginations, as you feast on His Food! ~Wendy 🌹
 The field appeared to have totally gone to seed. Why hadn’t it been harvested yet? I stood overlooking a field full of a crop I couldn’t recognize even after many years of living on a farm. So super thick, it actually looked like a bumper crop of weeds that had already gone to seed. The seed fluff shimmered and were ready to spread at the slightest breeze. Could it really be just a field full of weeds? My curiosity was piqued and I had to take a closer look. Just under the height of all the weeds were heads of grain. They were unlike any type of grain or seed that I had ever seen and they clung to the stalk in a unique manner. I reached out, running my hand up a stem to gather the grains into my hand for a closer look. Large, white, and roundish—much like a huge lily-of-the-valley shaped seed—they were still soft and moist. This crop was not fully mature yet, not ready for harvest. Although the weeds’ seeds were dead ripe and flying at the slightest breeze, I knew that the gathering of the grain wouldn't happen just yet.
Sin and its results have become obviously evident as the world’s iniquity fills up full. Evil and wickedness are at an incredibly mature state of proliferation. All I could see at first glance of the field was the ripeness of evil. But, less obvious to the natural eye, there really was a harvest being produced. The children of the promise are counted for the seed. [Rom 9:8]. There is a bumper crop coming up and it isn’t a bumper crop of weeds! There is a harvest coming for the Kingdom of God. 
I pray you will be blessed above and beyond your wildest imaginations, as you feast on His Food! ~Wendy 🌹
 In that state between awake and asleep, I suddenly saw a gorgeous peacock with full massive fan and iridescent colours against the backdrop of our family room wall. That was it for sleep! I hopped out of bed to study the peacock and uncover the mystery revealed to me.
HONOR & INTEGRITY, COURAGE & CONFIDENCE: Peacocks symbolize honor, integrity and the importance of facing life’s challenges and the unknown with courage and confidence. Exactly what is needed in this year of 2020. This is a time for families to operate in honor and integrity in their dealings with each other (and others) especially in this season of being “stuck” together for an unknown period of time. Your family room should be filled with courage and confidence in the ability of our God to deliver us.
IMMUNITY & ENDURANCE: The peacock has the capability to eat poisonous plants and not die. They can endure even the most difficult of suffering. This sounds like a child of God to me. His promise to His own was that no deadly toxin would harm them and our forefathers of the faith inherited the promises through patient endurance. 
SLAYER OF SERPENTS: One of the most interesting abilities of the the peacock is his ability to eat poisonous snakes without harm. In the western world, peacocks are referred to as a slayer of serpents. God has given us the ability to “trample on serpents” and over ALL the power of the enemy. God created you to be a serpent slayer! He gave you power over devils and diseases and made them subject to you. “Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through your name…” (Luke 10:17). Every devil in subordination. Every devil has a lower-ranking position forced into a subservient state of submission to the followers fo Christ. The weakness of fallen man is weakness in its lowest form. But the power of redeemed man is beyond our comprehension. You have a job to do. Rise up, Church! It’s time to do some snake slaying! Your mouth has the ability to subdue the enemy! 
I pray you will be blessed above and beyond your wildest imaginations, as you feast on His Food! ~Wendy 🌹
 “…I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown…” 2 Timothy 4:7,8 NLT Within a fraction of a moment (I like to say nano-second), I went from my hotel room to a place I intuitively knew as the Belmont Races. There I was, standing at a horse racetrack.
As fast as I had left, I was back tucked in my hotel room bed. I didn’t even know if a Belmont racetrack existed. Curiosity got the better of me so I decided check with Google. The results were astounding—especially since Holy Spirit spoke louder than the words I saw on the page instantly paralleling what I read to the life we live. I discovered there is a major thoroughbred horse racing facility in New York called the Belmont Park Horse Races. It is home of the Belmont Stakes, third leg of the Triple Crown and regarded as the “Test of the Champion”. To me, Triple Crown represented the Trinity of the Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (the great Three-in-One Who is King above all kings and most certainly wears the royal crown).  Named after August Belmont Sr, the Belmont Stakes is the oldest of the Triple Crown events and one of the oldest stakes races in North America. (I’m sure that I don’t have to mention that our God is the Ancient of Days.) August Belmont Jr. became heir of his father’s vast banking fortune. Along with inheriting an avid interest in racing, he became a scholar of bloodlines. Champions passed through his stables. The champions named were: Man o’ War, Tracery, and Hourless. (Once again, names - and 3 at that - so symbolic of the Lord Almighty.) The first horse listed as one of Belmont’s champions is MAN O’ WAR. Immediately I heard in my spirit, “The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name.” (Ex 15:3).
and me. We are the branches formed on Him—and by Him. Jesus declared, “…you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5). It’s the truth! We cannot run this race without Him, much less win. We can do nothing apart from Him!
The next morning as we headed to a church we were visiting, I asked my daughter to type the address into google maps. “Ok,” she said, “Belmont Church.” Her words sunk like an arrow deep into my spirit, awakening the memory of last evening’s God-encounter and download.  I hadn't made the connection that we were visiting a church called Belmont, but I was now keenly aware that God had a message for His Body of Champions. As we live in these days, this race of life will certainly be the “Test of the Champion”. Belmont is the third leg of the Triple Crown. This means that not all make it to this phase of the race. The Belmont Stakes are where Champions are crowned. This is a race for champions. Now, there is a vast difference between riding and racing. Racing takes a different type of rider. The scariest part of the ride is not the speed, but the horse’s strength. You can love a racehorse all you want in the barn. But, everything suddenly changes when you take them out to the track and swing a leg over their back. Power - like that of a tightly wound spring about to be sprung - will ripple through the horse’s body, and therefore through you, as the horse becomes all business. What seemed somewhat controllable in the barn, becomes unstoppable and unrestrainable. Church, we are about to experience explosive power ready to be unbridled as endless power and life ripples through Christ’s Body!
Great jockeys cannot ride by sight. (They probably can’t see through the flying dust and grime anyway). Great jockeys must ride by proprioception. Proprioception has to do with positioning. Proprioception (alignments and balances of the “body”) allows riders the most direct communication with a horse. Nerves of steel, extra strength, patience, and aggression are needed to be a jockey. The same can be said for the Church. Running the last leg of this Triple Crown Race is not for the faint of heart. It is for Champions.
In order to be victorious as a rider, you must ride the winning horse. A great jockey can’t win without a champion horse. This race is not really about the rider but Who the rider is with. Jesus Christ is the all victorious One. “…All things shall be subdued unto him … that God may be all in all.” (1 Cor 15:28). As the God of Glory thunders down the track, it’ll be all we can do to hang onto Him. Not because it will be a “barely” victory, not because we will “barely” make it, but because of the magnitude of His speed, agility and ability about to be exhibited. In an unprecedented display of sheer power, His grace will speed down the last leg of the track swallowing up every rival and contender that would dare challenge Him as He thunders to the finish line. Interestingly, Belmont’s champion horse, Man o’ War, suffered his one-and-only loss to a promising young colt named Upset. This became the most amazing upset in horse-racing history. But it is said, “the loss only enhanced Man o' War's reputation.” The Daily Racing Form wrote, "Without attempting to detract from the merits of [Upset's] performance, Man o' War proved himself in the running unquestionably the best.” The event that looked like the most amazing upset in world’s history, actually proved that Man o’ War was "unquestionably the best."
As Jesus voluntarily chose to suffer this loss, he actually increased His rank, celebrity, and prestige. He became known throughout all ages as the risen Lord and glorified Christ. A stable boy once made this statement about Man o’ War, “He’s nice and he’s smart, but don’t ever try to force him or you’ll come out second best every time.” Satan had certainly forced his hand. It looked like satan won, yet he most certainly didn’t come out as victor in this battle for supremacy because “we see Jesus … crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." (Heb 2:9). It was in this one “defeat” of tasting death that Jesus Christ became the Crowned One. Jesus, the mighty Man of War, became “the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” (Col 1:18).
The contest was over! Having disarmed powers and principalities, Jesus became the absolute and supreme Victor. What looked like defeat had only enhanced and raised the stakes! Through His suffering, He was “…bringing many sons unto glory…” (Heb 2:10). The prized champion, Man o’ War, sired many to become champions such as Himself. So, too, with Christ. He has produced champion sons and daughters. “…because as he is, so are we in this world.” (1 Jo 4:17). After his historic defeat, Man o’ War gained his revenge by many future victories against Upset. In true form, Jesus and His Champion Church are still winning victory after victory after victory against Upset. There is no one greater than our Lord! He is the ultimate authority! He is the ultimate power! He is the ultimate victor! In the Belmont Stake’s wording, “Here is the hallowed ground where Man o’ War left the crowd in awe…” This track of life is the ultimate “Test of the Champion” but this track is where champions are crowned. Get ready to be crowned as an overcomer. The Book of Revelation reveals the blessings given to the overcomer. That, my friend, is you! You are an overcoming champion if you are riding with the ultimate champion, Jesus Christ. Get ready to: set multiple world records, have recognized accomplishments, and win even under heavy restraint or terrible starts. We will see: miracles great in quantity and quality, divine encounters, healings without number, astounding provision, incredible signs, and miraculous wonders! What we’ve felt and seen to date is just a small ripple of the power about to be poured out. The Bride of Christ is about to be awed by the Man ‘o War, right here on this hallowed ground called earth. For this ride, all you can do is hang on!
Just hang on—He’ll get you around the track! He’ll get you to the finish line where champions are crowned. You will be able to say, “…I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown…” (2 Tim 4:7,8, NLT). 
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AuthorWendy Varga 
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